Knoxville "local" crags and a new climbing gym?

Hey there,

Moving to Knoxville at the end of the summer and have a couple of questions people might be able to help with. Are there any good local crags? I know the obed is an hour-ish away, which is awesome, but anywhere else closer? Somewhere worth it for after work climbing. I'm rope soloing a little bit so anywhere with fun TR accessible routes is good but hoping for some good bolted or trad lines, anywhere from 5.8-5.12+ as long as they're fun (thought the longer the route, usually the better).

I also heard there was possibly a new gym opening in the area? I know of the UT gym, but not a student so won't have access - and the climbing center at the river store (though that place sounds a little underwhelming). A friend of mine in the area said he believe a new "big" gym would be opening either this year or early next year. Anyone know anything about that?

Thanks for all the info!

There is a new crag being developed/is developed very close to town, but the location has not been officially released (to my knowledge).

Don't know about gyms.

Someone just inquired on reddit about the gym situation. Sounds like the gym situation may be improving in the next year or two.

Link here.

Riversports (the existing gym/store) has nice bouldering and a few top rope routes. The lead routes are a little sparse and don't seem to be changed ever. Not bad for getting some work in. Depending where you choose to live/work, you could be closer to 45 minutes from Obed and also 30 minutes from Riversports. I'm sure the new gym will be pretty nice, considering it's new.

The outdoor area is being developed south of downtown.

The new crag being developed is 5-10 minutes from downtown. I don't think it's officially open because they're still putting some work in cleaning rock and developing paths, etc. It's an old quarry, so don't get your hopes up for an obed downtown. That being said, the routes I've done have all been interesting and thoughtful. Keep an eye out for loose rock! The routes are pretty short, but it's close to town for some after work climbing.
Any one heard anything about Cherokee bluff? I heard that place was pretty cool, but unfortunately it's on private land and closed to climbing. I read on mp that people were trying to work with the landowner to reopen it but havent heard anything else.

Thanks for the info! sounds awesome, or at least close. I'll be coming from Atlanta and have been spoiled with Stone Summit(s) - but being much closer to real crags will be great, though after work climbing will be limited with poor gym choices - though getting off work early in the medical field, or weird hours, does happen quite a lot and the downtown close crag sounds like a great option too. If anyone has anymore beta or thoughts on where to get more info let me know! I've done some bolting and crag development in NC and would love to help out in Knoxville as well if there's a need for more assistance/bolting/cleaning/trail building.

I will also be relocating to knoxville this summer and am looking for climbing partners. I am coming from over seas and will not have a car until the end of July but would really like to get to know the area. Routes or bouldering are fine.

I live in Knoxville, and for the price, Riversports is pretty cool. Good setting. The gym has a slight preference for bouldering, but the holds are new and good and despite being small the walls are reset relatively frequently. Everything is set hard as well, so if you are ever frustrated with it, its because you suck, not because you aren't challenged. haha.

The new gym is called "Onsight" and was supposed to open soon, but I've heard they have had a lot of really big construction issues that have slowed progress. I'm not particularly optimistic about it.

As far as the "local" crag, it is at Ijams in Mead's Quarry. I only went once and climbed 2 easy not good routes and then got rained on, so I can't give a totally accurate opinion, but the rock is really chossy and isn't natural. I'm pretty sure the cliff is only there because of dynamite.

I love climbing and I think Knoxville is a pretty good place to be for climbing. My recommendation would be get a super cheap bouldering membership at Riversports (its like 80 dollars for 3 months) and then drive the hour to the Obed anytime you want to get outside.

There are a bunch of other places to climb outside that are relatively close such as LRC, laurel falls/dayton pocket, etc, but the Obed is absolutely amazing and has a lot of climbing and decent variety and can be climbed at year round and some areas can be climbed at even in the rain.

I'm not familiar with a new Knoxville climbing gym, but Riversports, while a big pricey for what you get, is good enough. The new Ijam's Crag is more unique and accessible than it is quality climbing. The fact that it's only a 10 minute drive from downtown and very short approach makes it a great after-work choice. A few Knoxville area climbers have put a lot of time and energy into making it a climbable crag, and I definitely think it's worth your time to get out there. A bit closer than the Obed is The Devil's Racetrack. It's a jungle in the summer, but in the spring/fall, it's great. It offers a good mix of trad and harder sport lines, even a handful of great two-pitch climbs. It's about 40 minutes from downtown and you'll likely never see another climber while you're there. Cherokee Bluffs is still closed and climbing there is considered trespassing. Enough can't be said about the Obed, so while it might not be the preferred after-work crag, you'll inevitably end up there every weekend. Grab Kelly Brown's Obed guidebook, it's superb.

greenergrasspublishing.com/…

Khowe765 wrote:I'm not familiar with a new Knoxville climbing gym, but Riversports, while a big pricey for what you get, is good enough. and-scenic/

I agree with everything you said except I don't think Riversports is pricy at all. It could be the cheapest gym you'll ever go to. If you can find a 3 month membership anywhere else for less than 100 dollars, I'd be shocked.

It's been 6 or so years since I've last been to Riversports, thankfully, but that place was by far one of the worst gyms I've ever been to in 20+ years of climbing. The employees at Riversports were always some of the most clueless and rude "climbers" I had ever met! The price to climb was ridiculous for their facility and depending on which moron was working, you were guaranteed to hear some of the most obnoxious music, at terribly loud volumes. The pitifully set routes were rarely reset over the 3 or so years that I went to the place, unless it was for a high school climbing competition. Their arbitrary rules on the 1 lead route they had were obnoxious and they only certified their buddies to be able to lead the route...after many, many visits trying to get them to certify me and they refused to for whatever reason they could come up with at the time, I brought my rope and some draws and led the thing anyway, while they were bitching for me to come down. If it's anything like it was then, I wouldn't waste a dime on that place and focus on climbing outside. After I made that decision for myself, I didn't have to worry about Riversports and always being disappointed, and truly enjoyed the rocks nearby.

Back when I was in K-ville, Cherokee Bluffs was open and bouldering on House Mtn was legal (last I heard it was not allowed), so I could get my fix in town or with a short drive. Now those are closed, but Ijams is opened (something several people wanted to see back then), so I guess it's somewhat of a trade off. To be honest, giving up on Riversports was the best decision I made while I lived there, because it made me head to the Obed much more often...and the memories of climbing at the Lily boulders and the various cliffs are some of the best memories I have of my time in K Town.

Brad, that sucks but I found riversports to be great when I was there last summer. The employees were helpful and they set routes continuously while I lived in Knox. I was lead certified my first day there.

That got negative quickly. Sure am excited to move to Tennessee now.

Not trying to be negative, simply stating the reality of that gym when I was there. Sounds like it has changed, but with such great rock nearby, why spend too much time there anyway?. I loved living in Knoxville, the downtown and market square events. There's great food and good beer and most of the folks are a lot more friendly than down here in Greenville SC. Don't let my negative experiences with Riversports give you the indication that the whole area/scene is bad.

Look Rock is another spot we liked to climb, especially with inexperienced folks or when down at that end of the Smokies. Short routes with some bouldering, easy to set top ropes literally a minute from your car, great views and hiking/mountain biking/kayaking not too far away...not the best rock quality, but something different none the less.

Brad Caldwell wrote:It's been 6 or so years since I've last been to Riversports, thankfully, but that place was by far one of the worst gyms I've ever been to in 20+ years of climbing. The employees at Riversports were always some of the most clueless and rude "climbers" I had ever met! The price to climb was ridiculous for their facility and depending on which moron was working, you were guaranteed to hear some of the most obnoxious music, at terribly loud volumes. The pitifully set routes were rarely reset over the 3 or so years that I went to the place, unless it was for a high school climbing competition. Their arbitrary rules on the 1 lead route they had were obnoxious and they only certified their buddies to be able to lead the route...after many, many visits trying to get them to certify me and they refused to for whatever reason they could come up with at the time, I brought my rope and some draws and led the thing anyway, while they were bitching for me to come down. If it's anything like it was then, I wouldn't waste a dime on that place and focus on climbing outside. After I made that decision for myself, I didn't have to worry about Riversports and always being disappointed, and truly enjoyed the rocks nearby. Back when I was in K-ville, Cherokee Bluffs was open and bouldering on House Mtn was legal (last I heard it was not allowed), so I could get my fix in town or with a short drive. Now those are closed, but Ijams is opened (something several people wanted to see back then), so I guess it's somewhat of a trade off. To be honest, giving up on Riversports was the best decision I made while I lived there, because it made me head to the Obed much more often...and the memories of climbing at the Lily boulders and the various cliffs are some of the best memories I have of my time in K Town.

Well Riversports has improved drastically since then. Charley is now in charge and he sets new stuff every week or so. I got certified to lead pretty easily and have lead a bunch of times. They are just now focusing on lead climbing again, but there are like 6 or so lead routes up and lots of good top roping. They also have 2 or 3 auto belays. That said, if you can drive to the Obed, you should definitely do that instead of climbing at Riversports, but its really easy to get 2 hours of climbing at Riversports in from like 8-10 after school or work.

Also, if anybody is looking to go to the Obed sometime, I'm always looking for more climbing partners, especially Mondays and Fridays.

Honestly, I really feel like Knoxville is a pretty great place to be if you want to climb at a wide variety of places with relatively short driving distances. 1.30 hours from LRC, 3-ish hours from RRG, 30-45 minutes from OBED, 3 hours from Rocktown (and of course many maaaany other places). I never climbed at Riversports when it was ran by these clueless people, I've only been there apparently since the awesome people started working there. Riversports is a small gym, but it's older so you can't really fault it for that. Charlie sets new boulder routes all the time, and frankly they are some of the best problems, movement wise, I've been on. If you move anywhere else in the south that's within minutes of a crag, chances are you're pretty far from everything else, including other climbing spots. The only other city I could think of better would be Chattanooga. Anyway, sorry had to rep some Knox Pride.

Also, my husband and I are open to climb with anyone if someone needs a new partner. :-)

Austin Eddy wrote: I agree with everything you said except I don't think Riversports is pricy at all. It could be the cheapest gym you'll ever go to. If you can find a 3 month membership anywhere else for less than 100 dollars, I'd be shocked.

I agree, for a 3-month bouldering pass, $80 is great. I should've been more specific, though, I was just referring to lead/top-roping at Riversports. When compared with the sheer quantity and quality of lead/top-roping routes at Climb Nashville ($15.75/daypass) and High Point Chattanooga ($15/daypass), I think Riversports' ($14/daypass) lead/toproping price should be greatly reduced. As for the staff at Riversports, they are nice for the most part, but I personally have also had some poor experiences with a few of the staff. Route-setting for top-rope routes are not set or re-set often, and seems more like an afterthought. A good example of this is that all of the top-rope/lead climbs at Riversports share bouldering routes for the bottom half, and while the bouldering routes appear to be reset often, once you climb past the bouldering top-out, the route setting essentially ends. Also, I too have been turned away on two separate occasions due to high school bouldering comps. Basically, if you want to boulder, Riversports looks great. If you want to top-rope/lead, go outside, Knoxville has lots of great options!

Khowe765 wrote: I agree, for a 3-month bouldering pass, $80 is great. I should've been more specific, though, I was just referring to lead/top-roping at Riversports. When compared with the sheer quantity and quality of lead/top-roping routes at Climb Nashville ($15.75/daypass) and High Point Chattanooga ($15/daypass), I think Riversports' ($14/daypass) lead/toproping price should be greatly reduced. As for the staff at Riversports, they are nice for the most part, but I personally have also had some poor experiences with a few of the staff. Route-setting for top-rope routes are not set or re-set often, and seems more like an afterthought. A good example of this is that all of the top-rope/lead climbs at Riversports share bouldering routes for the bottom half, and while the bouldering routes appear to be reset often, once you climb past the bouldering top-out, the route setting essentially ends. Also, I too have been turned away on two separate occasions due to high school bouldering comps. Basically, if you want to boulder, Riversports looks great. If you want to top-rope/lead, go outside, Knoxville has lots of great options!

Yeah I agree. I only had to pay 10 dollars because I'm a student. Also, another cool thing they do, is they let you pay the difference between a boulder day pass and TR day pass if you want to top rope and already have a bouldering membership. So I boulder 90% of the time, but every now and then I can just pay 2 dollars and top rope. Tope roping is definitely reset decently often now that Charlie is in charge. But yeah, its definitely more of a bouldering focused gym. And yeah they have comps and ladies' night. They usually announce them on the climbing center page though.

I lived and climbed in and around knoxville and the greater east tennessee area for the 1st half of my life. Clear Creek Canyon in the Obed Wild and Scenic is a tremendous crag for the south. You will not find a steeper crag with more fun solid holds to pump on anywhere in the country and I have climbed the entire west including maple canyon, rifle, eldorado canyon, wyoming, flagstaff, etc.

The commute to Clear Creek/Obed routes always sucked and I used to do it 4 days a week in the early 90s when Andra and I were 1st establishing routes. It is not 30 minutes. It is always at least 1.5 hrs from UT-K campus. If you lived in Farragut or Oak Ridge you might get there in an hour and 10 minutes if you run over grandma's blue hair. There are always people driving 20 miles under the speed limit on the entire drive. If it had not been for that commute I would have never left and moved to Chattanooga. Although Chattanooga has its own problems like almost no paying jobs outside of healthcare, air pollution where you can taste tailpipes while hiking and climbing, and dealing with extreme rednecks. T wall is 2.5 hrs but your camping/climbing gear will eventually be stolen while you enjoy the best cracks in the South.

Carryville aka Devil's race track is 40 minutes away and if you hate driving it is an option but you will be listening to 18 wheelers humming past your belay the entire day and the rock is choss and very loose and not that steep.

Kelly Brown's new south knox ijams crag is a tremendous effort by someone trying to help you knox climbers recover from the loss of cherokee bluffs which was very convenient when there was access. Ijams looks like a sculpted marble quarry that will eventually clean up nicely although the 13 routes are short looking from the photos I've seen. While cherokee bluffs was a sharp polished dirty limestone crag leaned above 4 foot ledge of red mud, it served as a serious training ground that put alot of us up in the grades where we cut our teeth on 5.12. Lobbying for purchase oF Cherokee with Access Fund and ETCC money needs to stay on the radar for knox climbers. Maybe the university could help raise money or canoe and hiking club.

Look Rock is not worth the drive with the above options available (too short, slick, and dirty).

There is alot of incredible potential 1.5 to 2 hrs away in the Big South Fork (many new routes developed but rock is inferior quality to Obed), Cumberland Gap NHP (way blank and difficult but huge and beautiful walls), and some good potential along I-75 north just north of carryville and just before you cross the kentucky state line (look to the right of the freeway at the orange walls running up and down the hill parrallel to freeway).

Black Mountain at 1 hour 10 minutes drive really isn't worth the gas when the same tank of gas gets you to clear creek/obed. the rock is super sharp and the bolts were mostly pulled and chopped in the late 80s early 90s.

Kelly Brown has some new bouldering areas nw of knox past carryville.

Some ok rock around Bee Rocks/Hidden Rocks west of Crossville but access issues from private landowners ruined those opportunities.

There is a crag on the Hiwassee called Star Mountain. Only good if you are fishing or canoeing. Never worth the drive.

Buzzard Point is a horrible drive to a not that great crag. Short tweaky routes with a huge 1.5 hr hike. The drive time could put you at Sunset Rocks in Nooga which is an excellent trad venue.

There are shortcuts to the North Face of Looking Glass that can put that drive at only 2 hrs and 15 minutes. That place is fantastic for steep granite crack climbing although you will run out of routes after a few years.

Whitesides/Cashiers is 4 hrs and is the best real multi-pitch in the south.

That pretty much sums up your options.

Knoxville is a fun town although somewhat of party town combined with extreme right wing religious fanatics who often think that climbers are akin to devil worshippers. Excellent entertainment and strong climbing scene. Great whitewater and backcountry hiking. NRG is accessible 4.5 hrs away and the red 3.5 hrs away although to me the obed climbed better than both if you like the super steep on good holds that you don't slip off of. If you can tolerate the drive (maybe with a prius or other gas sipper?) the Obed is way underrated and is a spectacular crag. Rob Robinson would make the drive to Obed regularly from Chattanooga. For sport climbing, Obed is the best crag in the state of TN. It blows foster falls away and anything in and around chattanooga including little river canyon in bama.

Here is some other local crag potential that my dad and I climbed with hemp ropes in the mid 70s in order to reach a potential cave. Right across from the vet school. I am sure there is alot more limestone than cherokee bluffs. (rent a boat or jump in a plane).

misc crag potential in knox across from vet school
other potential limestone cragging along tn river other than the cherokee bluffs. photos pulled off image thumbnails in google earth that show up on the map.
more limestone along tn river in knox

Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge limestone potential
more limestone on tn river near knox
youtube.com/watch?v=W9DUh_2…